Science & invention
Morris Goodman
1925–2010
· molecular evolutionist
Wayne State University scientist whose protein and DNA comparisons showed how closely humans are related to chimpanzees and gorillas.
- Born
Milwaukee, Wisconsin- Died
Oakland County, Michigan- Detroit years
- 1950s–2010
- Field
- Science & invention
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Goodman grew up in Milwaukee, served as a navigator in the Army Air Forces in World War II and trained in zoology at the University of Wisconsin. After research posts at the University of Illinois Medical School and at the Detroit Institute of Cancer Research, he made his career at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he became a distinguished professor at the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics in the School of Medicine. Beginning in the early 1960s he used immunological comparisons of blood proteins, and later DNA sequences, to measure how closely primate species are related. His results showed that humans, chimpanzees and gorillas are more closely related to one another than any of them is to the orangutan, and he argued that the classification of apes should reflect this. He edited the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution and was, until his death in 2010, the only Wayne State faculty member elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Highlights
- Pioneer of molecular evolution and molecular systematics
- Showed the close kinship of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas
- Distinguished professor, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State
- Member of the National Academy of Sciences; editor of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1950s–2010
Wayne State University School of Medicine
He spent his career on the School of Medicine faculty, later at its Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics.